Techniques for instantiating and configuring projects

ABSTRACT

Techniques for project management instantiation and configuration are provided. A master project includes policy directives that drive the dynamic instantiation and configuration of resources for a project. The resources are instantiated and configured on demand and when resources are actually requested, in response to the policy directives.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/831,222, filed on Jul. 31, 2007 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,962,889, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Increasingly enterprises and governments are turning to technology toautomate and streamline their internal operations and businessprocesses. Furthermore, the advent of the Internet and the World-WideWeb (WWW) has allowed enterprises and governments to deliver goods andservices in an automated and nearly instantaneous fashion across theentire globe.

With any good or service provided by an enterprise or a government,there can be potentially a myriad of activities and expenses associatedwith those activities, which the enterprise or government endures beforethe good or service is available in the marketplace for consumption.

For example, word processing software has to be initially defined,developed and tested before it can be released for sale. Theseactivities are usually managed internally by high-salaried projectmanagers. For the most part, the project managers are administratorswith skill in acquiring other personnel and equipment within anenterprise to make a project move from conception and development torelease. In some cases, projects are so large within an enterprise thatmultiple layers of project managers are needed for any given project.

In large part, the industry has not been able to successfully automateand streamline the project management process. As a result, the cost ofgoods and services are likely unduly inflated and the time-to-market forgoods and services is longer than it probably should be.

One reason for this lack of automation is the perceived complexityassociated with project management in general. There are a variety ofconsiderations such as laws, regulations, internal procedures that haveto be followed. In addition, there may be limited personnel withspecific skill sets some of which may be in high demand and unavailablewithin the enterprise and some of which the enterprise does not have andwill have to contract out or hire in order to obtain.

Moreover, even when a manually implemented project management system isin place within an enterprise, there often arises a variety of complexresource limitations that necessitate ad hoc modifications that cannottruly be automated in any real sense.

For example, a large project may include a plethora of assets and makingall these assets available in one environment and at one time to theexclusion of other enterprise assets may prove too costly or draining onthe enterprise. So, one or a few skilled employees may regularly andmanually move and reconfigure assets on an as needed basis to alleviatethe situation and make it workable. Yet, this scenario is ripe forerrors and problems, especially when the skilled employees are out ofthe office or leave the enterprise.

Thus, what is needed is an automated and flexible mechanism, whichallows for improved project instantiation and configuration within aproject management system.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, techniques for instantiating and configuringprojects are provided. More specifically, and in an embodiment, a methodis provided for dynamically instantiating a master project. A projectdefinition is acquired for a project within a first processingenvironment, which is associated with a first stage of a lifecycle forthe project. Next, selective resources of the project that areassociated with the first stage are dynamically instantiated andconfigured on demand and when the resources are requested using theproject definition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a method for dynamically instantiating a masterproject, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method for selectively instantiating portionsof a project via a virtual project definition, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a project instantiation and configuration system,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of another project instantiation and configurationsystem, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A “resource” includes a user, content, a processing device, a node, aservice, an application, a system, a schema definition, a directory, anoperating system (OS), a file system, a data store, a database, a policydefinition, a configuration definition, a file, a World-Wide Web (WWW)service, a WWW page, groups of users, combinations of these things, etc.The terms “service,” “application,” and “system” may be usedinterchangeably herein and refer to a type of software resource thatincludes instructions, which when executed by a machine performsoperations that change the state of the machine and that may produceoutput.

A “principal” is a special type of resource that performs one or moreactions against other resources. So a principal may be a user or anautomated service.

In an embodiment, each resource is electronically defined andrepresented as having one or more attributes. Each attribute includesone or more name value pairs. For example, a server resource may includean attribute associated with its physical Internet Protocol (IP) addressand that attribute may be represented by the following name value pair:“IP=100.1.1.10.” The server resource may also have its own identity(discussed below) and may include other attributes such as whether theIP address is static or dynamic, etc. Attributes may also includereferences to policy or even specific configuration details for a givenprocessing environment that a resource is to be deployed to.

A “project” refers to the activity associated with an enterprise orgovernment producing a good (product) or personal service (e.g.,financial advice, etc.) for consumption in the marketplace. The activityfor the project is defined in various stages of the project's lifecycle,such as by way of example only project definition, project development,project testing, project release, etc. Thus, a “project” is representedand electronically defined as a series of stages associated with theproject's lifecycle. Each stage includes its own processing environmenthaving its own or shared resources. So, a stage is represented andelectronically defined as one or more resources and their relationshipswith other resources of the same stage or a different stage. A projectmay also be viewed as a type of resource.

A virtual project is one that includes other sub projects or nestedprojects. Some resources associated with a virtual project may beinstantiated and ready for use while others are configured andinstantiated according to policy.

Projects and virtual projects are defined via configuration data,metadata, policy, and other directives or statements that can beinterpreted by and acted upon by other services or resources tologically assemble and define a collection of resources as a particularproject or meta resource.

A “processing environment” refers to one or more physical processingdevices organized within a local network. For example, several computersconnected via a local area network (LAN) may collectively be viewed as aprocessing environment. The processing environment also refers tosoftware configurations of the physical processing devices, such as butnot limited to operating system, file system, directory service, etc. Asingle processing environment may be logically defined, such that itspans multiple different networks (e.g., multiple different LAN's, a LANand a wide-area network (WAN), etc.).

An “identity service” refers to a special type of service that isdesigned to manage and supply authentication services and authenticationinformation for resources. So, an identity service may authenticate agiven resource for access to a variety of local and external servicesbeing managed by that identity service. A single resource may havemultiple identity services. In addition the identity service itself maybe viewed as a type of resource. In this manner, identity service mayauthenticate and establish trust with one another viewing one another asspecific type of resource.

According to an embodiment, some example identity services are describedin “Techniques for Dynamically Establishing and Managing Authenticationand Trust Relationships,” filed on Jan. 27, 2004, and having the U.S.Ser. No. 10/765,523; “Techniques for Establishing and Managing aDistributed Credential Store,” filed on Jan. 29, 2004, and having theU.S. Ser. No. 10/767,884; and “Techniques for Establishing and ManagingTrust Relationships,” filed on Feb. 3, 2004, and having the U.S. Ser.No. 10/770,677; all of which are commonly assigned to Novell, Inc., ofProvo, Utah and the disclosures of which are incorporated by referenceherein.

An identity service may also provide single sign-on services to aresource. That is, a resource may sign-on to an identity service andacquire identities and credentials to access a variety of other servicesor resources. In some cases, the identity service is modified orenhanced to perform some of the teachings presented herein and below.

A resource is recognized via an “identity.” An identity is authenticatedvia various techniques (e.g., challenge and response interaction,cookies, assertions, etc.) that use various identifying information(e.g., identifiers with passwords, biometric data, hardware specificdata, digital certificates, digital signatures, etc.). A “true identity”is one that is unique to a resource across any context that the resourcemay engage in over a network (e.g., Internet, Intranet, etc.). However,each resource may have and manage a variety of identities, where each ofthese identities may only be unique within a given context (givenservice interaction, given processing environment, given virtualprocessing environment, etc.).

The identity may also be a special type of identity that the resourceassumes for a given context. For example, the identity may be a “craftedidentity” or a “semantic identity.” An example for creating and usingcrafted identities may be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/225,993; entitled “Crafted Identities;” filed on Sep. 14, 2005; andthe disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. An examplefor creating and using semantic identities may be found in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/261,970; entitled “Semantic Identities;” filedon Oct. 28, 2005; and the disclosure of which is incorporated byreference herein.

Various embodiments of this invention can be implemented in existingnetwork architectures, security systems, data centers, and/orcommunication devices. Any particular architectural layout orimplementation presented herein is provided for purposes of illustrationand comprehension only and is not intended to limit aspects orembodiments of the invention.

It is within this context, that various embodiments of the invention arenow presented with reference to the FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a method 100 for dynamically instantiating amaster project, according to an example embodiment. The method 100(hereinafter “project instantiation service”) is implemented asinstructions in a machine-accessible and readable medium. Theinstructions when executed by a machine perform the processing depictedin FIG. 1. The project instantiation service is also operational overand processes within a network. The network may be wired, wireless, or acombination of wired and wireless.

As will be more fully described herein and below, the projectinstantiation service permits a project to be defined in such a mangerthat the project instantiation service can dynamically and selectivelyinstantiate, configure, and make resources available on demand, whenneeded, or when requested.

At 110, the project instantiation service acquires a project definitionfor a project within a first processing environment. The firstprocessing environment is associated with a first stage of a lifecyclefor the project. The use of the adjective “first” is not to be limitedto an initial stage or the lifecycle as it can be any stage associatedwith the lifecycle in this sense it may be viewed as a particular stageof the lifecycle. It is noted that in some cases, the term “first” mayalso be used to represent the initial stage but it is not limited in allcase to the initial stage of the project lifecycle.

In an embodiment, at 111, the project instantiation service acquires theproject definition as one or more of the following: a data structure, atable, a database table, metadata, configuration data, and a virtualproject definition that logically defines the project.

In still another case, at 112, the project instantiation serviceidentifies triggers, events, and/or policies within the virtual projectdefinition. These items conditionally define when some of the selectiveresources are to be instantiated and configured within the first stageand the first processing environment. The events may be associated witha first principal acting within the first processing environment, thefirst processing environment as a whole, or event raised by resources orother projects associated with external and different processingenvironments.

In yet another situation, at 113, the project instantiation servicerecognizes sub project definitions within the project definition. Eachsub project definition includes configuration information for a subsetof the selective resources. The sub project definitions can be includedin the project definition via an identifier or reference that theproject instantiation service uses to access a configuration repositoryor policy repository to acquire the full sub project definition. Inother cases, the sub project definition is entirely contained as a subportion of the project definition.

Accordingly, at 114, and in some cases the project instantiation serviceidentifies at least one sub project definition that is masked or hiddenfrom view and access within the project definition. So, an aliasreference or identifier or other masked code may appear in the projectdefinition. The project instantiation service uses the reference or codeto directly/indirectly (via another service) acquire the sub projectdefinition. This hidden sub project can, according to policy directives,be auto mapped and configured when it is appropriate to do so within thefirst stage and the first processing environment. Security may prevent afirst principal from even knowing that the hidden sub project exists andis operating within the first processing environment. This type ofhidden project may be used for a variety of reasons, such as but notlimited to an auditing project, a tracking project, etc.

In still another embodiment, at 115, the project instantiation servicerecognizes the project definition as a series of definitions formultiple independent projects that are combined within the projectdefinition to define a global or meta project that represents theproject. In other words, the project can be a collection of smallerindependently processing projects that are recognized, assembled, andprocessed as a single meta project via the project definition and itsdirectives.

Essentially, the project definition includes statements, references tostatements, files, references to files, resources, identifiers forresources, and/or policies that the project instantiation serviceinterprets and uses to drive when resources are to be instantiated andconfigured for the project in the first processing environment.

At 120, the project instantiation service dynamically instantiates andconfigures selective resources of the project that are associated withthe first stage. The dynamic instantiation and configuration occurs ondemand and when the resources are requested as defined in the projectdefinition. Instantiation means that the resources are loaded intomemory and/or initiated for processing. Any configuration detailsrequired for use are also established. It is noted that from theviewpoint of the principal, the resources appear to always be there andavailable for use.

However, it is only when the resources are actually needed or requiredby policy to be available that the project instantiation servicedynamically instantiates and configures them. In this manner, the firstprocessing environment does not become loaded and memory intensive whencertain selective resources are not being used or needed. This makesthis dynamic approach more process and memory efficient thanconventional approaches and does so in an automated manner.

According to an environment, at 130, the project instantiation serviceconfigures at least some resources for access within the first stagewhen those second resources are located in an entirely differentprocessing environment and different second stage of the projectlifecycle. In other words, the project definition can drive the projectinstantiation service to act or facilitate a proxy arrangement whereexternal resources appear to be and act as if they are present andoperating within the first processing environment. This again serves toalleviate the processing and memory loads of the first processingenvironment and permits mega projects to be handled within a firstprocessing environment that may have limited processor and memorycapabilities.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method 200 for selectively instantiatingportions of a project via a virtual project definition, according to anexample embodiment. The method 200 (hereinafter “virtual projectmanagement service”) is implemented as instructions in amachine-accessible and readable medium. The instructions when executedby a machine perform the processing depicted in FIG. 2. The virtualproject management service is also operational over and processes withina network. The network may be wired, wireless, or a combination of wiredand wireless.

The virtual project management service represents an enhancedperspective of the project instantiation service represented by themethod 100 discussed above with the FIG. 1. In other words, the virtualproject management service can be viewed as an enhancement version ofthe project instantiation service.

At 210, the virtual project management service actively monitors alifecycle for a project via a virtual project definition. The virtualproject definition includes a variety of sub portions where each subportion can be a reference to an entirely independent sub project of theproject.

At 220, the virtual project management service detects an attemptedaccess to a sub portion of the project, which is defined in the virtualproject definition. The attempted access is detected within a particularstage of the project lifecycle. The attempted access can be detected ina variety of manners.

For instance, at 221, the virtual project management service can detectthe attempted access as a condition or event defined within the virtualproject definition that when stratified triggers that attempted accessnotification or detection, which the virtual project management servicenotices.

In still another case, at 222, the virtual project management servicecan recognize the sub portion included within the virtual projectdefinition as an entirely self-contained and independent project havingits own different virtual project definition. For the viewpoint of theproject the self-contained project is a sub project, but from the viewof the self-contained project it views itself as a project with nodependency on the project that contains it.

In an embodiment, at 223, the virtual project management serviceconfigures and instantiates logical and physical resources associatedwith the sub portion when the attempted access is made. Thus, resourcesused and defined within the sub project are just configured andinstantiated when the virtual project management service decides it isappropriate to do so, and it is appropriate to do so when policy in orassociated with the virtual project definition dictates that it isappropriate to do so.

At 230, the virtual project management service dynamically instantiatesthe sub portion for immediate access within the particular stage. So,again the sub portion is instantiated and configured on demand for usein the particular stage. This situation is much more efficient thaninstantiating and configuring the sub portion when it is not needed,since if that were done resources (processor and memory) are wasted andthe loaded and unused resources also degrade other resources that areactively needed within the particular stage and its processingenvironment.

According to an embodiment, at 240, the virtual project managementservice deploys the sub portion to one or more other independentprojects associated with other stages different from the particularstage of the project lifecycle. So, the sub portion may be spawned as anindependent project to process in an entirely different stage andprocessing environment and yet be configured to be accessed and usedwith the project from the particular stage and particular processingenvironment.

In another embodiment, at 250, the virtual project management servicehides a selective and different portion of the project from view withinthe particular stage and its particular processing environment. So, asdiscussed above with reference to the method 100, portions of theproject can be entirely secretive and hidden from principals operatingon the project within the first stage. These hidden stages can bepopulated and instantiated based on actions of the principals andunknown to the principals for purposes of such things as auditing,tracking, etc.

In still another case, at 260, the virtual project management serviceuses policy to initially instantiate selective other portions of theproject when the project is first transitioned to an initial stage ofthe project lifecycle. So, some portions and associated resources can bepopulated, loaded, and instantiated based on policy when a transition inthe project is detected or when the project is initiated in its initialstage of the lifecycle.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a project instantiation and configuration system300, according to an example embodiment. The project instantiation andconfiguration system 300 is implemented as instructions on or within amachine-accessible and readable medium. The instructions when executedby a machine perform various aspects of the processing depicted withrespect to the method 100 of the FIG. 1 and the method 200 of the FIG.2. The project instantiation and configuration system 300 is alsooperational over a network and the network may be wired, wireless, or acombination of wired and wireless.

The project instantiation and configuration system 300 includes a masterproject managing service 301 and a virtual project definition 302. Eachof these components and their interactions with one another will now bediscussed in turn.

The master project managing service 301 is implemented in amachine-accessible and readable medium and is to process on a machinewithin one or more processing environments of the network. Exampleprocessing associated with the master project managing service 301 wasdescribed in detail above with reference to the project instantiationservice represented by the method 100 of the FIG. 1 and the virtualproject management service represented by the method 200 of the FIG. 2.

The master project managing service 301 interprets the virtual projectdefinition 302 and its directives, references, statements, andassociated policies for purposes of managing a master project. Themaster project includes a plurality of stages associated with itsproject lifecycle. Moreover, each stage is associated with a differentprocessing environment.

In response to the directives and policies included in the virtualproject definition 302, the master project managing service 301initially deploys some resources associated with the virtual projectdefinition 302 when the master project is initiated in an initial stageof the lifecycle. Furthermore, the master project managing service 301intentionally delays deploying other deferred resources associated withthe master project until permitted to deploy those deferred resources inresponse to the policies.

In an embodiment, the master project managing service 301 recognizesthat some of the virtual project definitions 302 include nested virtualproject definitions for sub projects that are independent of the masterproject and tied to the master project via the virtual projectdefinition 302. Further, a few of these nested virtual projectdefinitions are associated with already instantiated and configuredresources for some of those sub projects. Thus, the master projectmanaging service 301 can make these particular sub projects immediatelyavailable for use within the master project when the policies permitthis to be the case.

In another case, the master project managing service 301 assembles thesub projects and their sub project resources for use within a particularstage and provides access to a number of the sub project resources fromthe particular stage when those sub project resources are located indifferent stages or the lifecycle. So, the master project managingservice 301 can act as a proxy or facilitate a proxy arrangement for subproject resources already available in external or different stages andprocessing environments and the master project managing service 301 canactually cause the sub project and their resources to be instantiatedand available for use within a particular stage.

In yet another case, the master project managing service 301 deployseach of the sub projects in a variety of different stages for thelifecycle in response to the policies of the virtual project definition302. Moreover, the master project managing service 301, when directed bythe policies, re-assembles the sub projects as the master project withina particular or target stage of the lifecycle. The particular stage canalso be determined by the policies of the virtual project definition 302for the master project. So, the sub projects can be initiated in avariety of processing environments and stages of their lifecycles andthe master project can define for the master project managing service301 via the policies when they should be logically re-assembled andassociated for use within a particular stage of the master project.

The virtual project definition 302 is implemented in amachine-accessible and readable medium and is interpreted by the masterproject managing service 301.

Again, the virtual project definition 302 is interpreted by the masterproject managing service 301 and includes directives and policies thatdrive the processing of the master project managing service 301 todetermine when and if sub projects and resources are to be configuredand instantiated for use with the master project.

In an embodiment, the virtual project definition 302 includes nestedvirtual project definitions for sub projects that are entirelyindependent of the master project, as was discussed above. In somecases, at lease one of these nested virtual project definitions ishidden from a user or principal's view with a masked code, reference, oralias identifier within the virtual project definition 302. Whendeployed sub project resources used in the hidden sub project are notaccessible or viewable to the user or principal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of another project instantiation and configurationsystem 400, according to an example embodiment. The projectinstantiation and configuration system 400 is implemented asinstructions on or within a machine-accessible and readable medium. Theinstructions when executed by a machine perform various aspects of theprocessing depicted with respect to the methods 100 and 200 of the FIGS.1 and 2, respectively, and processing associated with the system 300 ofthe FIG. 3. The project instantiation and configuration system 400 isalso operational over a network and the network may be wired, wireless,or a combination of wired and wireless. Furthermore, the projectinstantiation and configuration system 400 presents an alternativeperspective to the project instantiation and configuration system 300represented by the FIG. 3.

The project instantiation and configuration system 400 includes aproject lifecycle management service 401 and a master project definition402. Each of these components and their interactions with one anotherwill now be discussed in turn.

The project lifecycle management service 401 is implemented in amachine-accessible and readable medium and is to process on a machinewithin a first processing environment of the network. Example processingof the project lifecycle management service 401 was described in detailabove with reference to the methods 100 and 200 and the system 300 ofthe FIGS. 1-3, respectively.

The project lifecycle management service 401 monitors activities of afirst principal within a first processing environment with respect tothe master project definition 402 to determine when some or each of theindependent sub projects are to be configured and made available to thefirst principal in the first processing environment.

So, the project lifecycle management service 401 tracks events, actions,and activities and uses directives and policy defined in the masterproject definition 402 to determine when some or all of the sub projectsdefined in the master project definition 402 are to be instantiated andconfigured for use within the first processing environment for use andaccess by the first principal. Again, some of these sub projects may behidden and not accessible to the first principal via the directives andthe policies.

In an embodiment, the project lifecycle management service 401 alsomonitors other events associated with the independent sub projects. Someof the vents are communicated and occur in other external processingenvironments occurring over a wide-area network (WAN), such as theInternet or World-Wide Web (WWW).

The master project definition 402 is implemented in a machine-accessibleand readable medium and is to be interpreted by the project lifecyclemanagement service 401.

The master project definition 402 includes nested project definitions orreferences to independent sub projects. Furthermore, the master projectdefinition 402 also defines, via the nested project definitions, asingle master project. The single master project having multiple stagesin a lifecycle of that master project.

According to an embodiment, at least one nested project definition isassociated with a particular sub project that is unavailable and notviewable by the first principal.

In another situation, the particular sub project has resources thatautomap, configure, and instantiate to the first processing environmentaccording to policy defined in the master project definition.

In yet another case, the sub projects appear to the first principal tobe present and available for access within the first processingenvironment even when some of the sub projects are not yet configuredand actually available for use within the first processing environment.So, the first principal believes all resources and sub projects arethere in the first processing environment, when in fact some are not andare only instantiated and configured when needed or when access isattempted.

The above description is illustrative, and not restrictive. Many otherembodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe above description. The scope of embodiments should therefore bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b) and willallow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature and gist of thetechnical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that itwill not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of theclaims.

In the foregoing description of the embodiments, various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting that the claimed embodiments have more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Description of the Embodiments, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate exemplary embodiment.

1. A method implemented and residing in a non-transitorymachine-readable medium for execution on a machine, the methodcomprising: acquiring, by the machine, a project definition for aproject within a first processing environment associated with a firststage of a lifecycle for the project, the lifecycle including multipleother stages and each other stage associated with different processingenvironments from one another and from the first processing environment,wherein acquiring further includes recognizing sub project definitionswithin the project definition, each sub project definition includesconfiguration information for a subset of the selective resources,wherein recognizing includes identifying at least one sub projectdefinition that is masked or hidden from view and access within theproject definition, and recognizing the project definition as a seriesof definitions for multiple independent projects that are combinedwithin the project definition to define a meta project representing theproject; and dynamically instantiating and configuring, by the machine,selective resources of the project that are associated with the firststage on demand and when the resources are requested using the projectdefinition.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring further includesacquiring the project definition as one or more of the following: a datastructure, metadata, a virtual project definition that logically definesthe project, and configuration data.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinacquiring further includes identifying triggers, events, and policieswithin the virtual project definition that conditionally defines whensome of the selective resources are to be instantiated within the firststage.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically instantiatingfurther includes configuring at least some resources for access withinthe first stage, wherein those resources are located in a second stageassociated with the project lifecycle.
 5. A method implemented andresiding in a non-transitory machine-readable medium for execution on amachine, the method comprising: monitoring, by the machine, a lifecyclefor a project via a virtual project definition; detecting, by themachine, attempted access to a sub portion of the project defined withinthe virtual project definition, wherein the attempted access is detectedwithin a particular stage of the lifecycle and within a particularprocessing environment, and each stage of the lifecycle have its ownunique processing environment different from the other sages;dynamically instantiating, by the machine, the sub portion of theproject for access within that particular stage; using, by the machine,policy to initially instantiate selective other portions of the projectwhen the project is first transitioned to an initial stage of thelifecycle; and hiding, by the machine, a selective different portion ofthe project from view within the particular stage; and deploying, by themachine, the sub portion to one or more other independent projectsassociated with other stages different from the particular stage of thelifecycle.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein detecting further includesrecognizing the attempted access as a condition or event defined withinthe virtual project definition that is satisfied and that triggers theattempted access.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein detecting furtherincludes recognizing the sub portion as an independent project havingits own different virtual project definition.
 8. The method of claim 5,wherein detecting further includes configuring and instantiating logicaland physical resources associated with the sub portion when theattempted access is made.
 9. A method implemented and residing in anon-transitory machine-readable medium for execution on a machine, themethod comprising: interpreting, by the machine, a virtual projectdefinition to manage a master project having a plurality of stagesassociated with a lifecycle of the master project, each stage associatedwith a different processing environment; hiding, by the machine, nestedvirtual project definitions associated with the virtual projectdefinition from viewing by a user when sub projects associated with thenested project definitions are not accessible to the user; deploying, bythe machine, selective resources of the master project based ondirectives and policies defined in the virtual project definition,deployment is for an initial stage of the lifecycle; and delaying, bythe machine, deployment of other resources until deployment is indicatedby the policies.
 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising,identifying, by the machine, sub projects defined with the virtualproject definition.
 11. The method of claim 10 further comprising,assembling, by the machine, sub resources for the sub projects fordeployment within a particular stage when indicated by the policies. 12.The method of claim 10 further comprising, deploying, by the machine,each of the sub projects to a variety of different stages for thelifecycle and re-assembling the sub projects as the master projectwithin a particular stage.